NBC2 Investigators: Golf club members out thousands of dollars

Dozens of seniors and members of the Riverwood Golf Club say they're being ripped off tens of thousands of dollars by the new club owners. They're afraid refundable deposits they made to the club when they joined will never be seen again.

"This was very enjoyable until I resigned," former member Jess Lenz said.

"Then it got nasty."

Lenz was once a scratch golfer.

"I was a one handicap until I quit playing," Lenz said.

He had to be. Lenz was a casino manager for decades either taking the helm or helping out at some of the most famous casinos from Atlantic City to Las Vegas including Ceaser's, Ceaser's Palace and MGM Grande.

"Playing golf with your customers was a big part of the business especially if you were a halfway decent golfer," Lenz said.

When he retired from the casino business, he moved to Charlotte County and joined Riverwood Golf Club. He paid about $24,000 as a deposit in order to become a "Signature Member."

"It was a deposit to establish a membership here," Lenz said.

Every year after that, he would pay about $5,000 in annual membership fees.

In 2008, the golf club struck a new contract with members that would get them their deposit back and save them from paying annual membership fees after they resigned.

Walt Powers was a member who took advantage of the deal.

"Because of the number of resignations they were getting this seemed like a very reasonable way to handle this," Powers said.

The new deal allowed members to resign and pay only one more year of annual membership fees. Then for every three signature members who joined, one resigned member would get their deposit back.

For Powers, that was $21,000. But now he's not sure he'll ever see that money after new owners bought the club in 2013. A company created for the purpose of solely this club, CH3 Riverwood Golf Club.

"When CH3 took over and decided they would go back to the original agreement that we signed," Powers said.

"That we would be responsible for paying dues until our membership was sold."

Powers and others said they were never consulted -- only notified via mail.

"When they came and changed it, we thought 'you can't do that'," Powers said.

But a clause in the contract says "the Club reserves the right to amend this Membership Plan, including the Rules and Regulations in any manner it deems appropriate in its sole and absolute discretion."

"I think that's what they were relying on," Powers said.

But according to members, CH3 offered a deal instead of paying annual membership fees. Retired members could fork over their deposit, usually in excess of $20,000, for roughly $3,000 over the course of five years. That's about $600 a year.

Powers and others decided to take the deal.

"Three-thousand dollars is better than nothing," Powers said.

But Lenz and other seniors chose to hold out. According to bills provided to NBC 2, Riverwood is now billing Lenz his annual membership fee once again and has racked up a debt obligation against him for $11,056.

He's convinced they're racking up the debt to take his deposit.

"They're going to bill you until it equals your deposit then they're going to take your deposit," Lenz said.

The man who has been signing the letters for CH3 to Riverwood members is Christopher Schaeffer.

According to the Division of Corporations, Schaeffer is president of Coral Hospitality, a golf and hotel management group based in Naples. According to the company website, the group runs a number of golf clubs across Southwest Florida and Georgia including Arrowhead Golf Club, Eagle Ridge Golf Club, and The Landing Yacht and Golf Club.